Composites are increasingly used in aerospace technology as a replacement for metals. In airplanes and helicopters, composites are an improvement over metals as they are lightweight, strong, durable and can be manufactured economically. Many aircraft composite components are comprised of a foam core surrounded with a composite skin as this provides a lightweight rigid structure.
The foam core can be comprised of a plurality of thin foam sheets joined together instead of a single piece of foam. Thick pieces of many types of foam can be expensive because it can take long periods of time for the foam to rise during its production. Consequently, the foam core is made of layers of foam sheets joined together. Usually these foam sheets are joined using conventional adhesives, however, this can result in composite parts having low strengths.
Accordingly, there has been a constant search in the field of aircraft composite parts for components having improved strengths.